Legs and Borders

Santa Barbara didn't make a great first impression on me, but on the other hand what was I even expecting? It was your typical beach resort where rich(er) and middle classi(er) people were coming to have fun, get drunk, sail on a boat, buy a cheesy marine themed souvenir and rave hard at a stag or hen's do. It was loud and cheerful all around, well at least on the two main roads along the beach and the nearby shopping centre. Once you hit the back alleys it was quickly getting quiet and ordinary which personally I didn't mind at all. On the first day I only had enough time to walk the wharf and check the surrounding beach, the verdict for camping here was negative, the beach was way too shallow and busy, it wouldn't be comfortable or particularly safe to spend a night here. So I activated plan b - I made my way over to one of the surrounding trails and found a good enough place to camp. Trail was called Hot Springs Canyon and it was situated on the outskirts of the city...

[Warrenton to Gearhart] Out of the few options I was considering to take like hiking the Olympics Park, Tahoe Rim Trail or even Colorado Trail, I went for the easiest in many ways the Oregon Coast Trail. First of all this trail didn't require any extra permits or long distance traveling. Resupplying seemed quite easy with many small towns along the way, it was also completely different to the PCT. Another good thing about it is that I don't really care all that much about thru hiking it and if I don't it won't be a problem. I'll just see how and if I enjoy it, hike for a week or so and then perhaps go to sightsee few more cities before going back to Europe. It seems like the most budget friendly option as well. So did I like the trail so far? Not really, turns out that walking log distances on a beach is not particularly enjoyable, I'm hoping that next few days will bring some variance. There's so many cars on the beach, people living around here love to dri...